Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 069

He picked up a can and crushed it in his massive hands. It exploded, showering him with beer. "Now they show up with their wands and their swords! And they boss everyone around under the guise of maintaining peace between humans and cryptids? Well, what about me? What about my peace? Forced to live out here in hiding, just because people want to take selfies with me? And don't get me wrong, I loved living here, but my nieces? There's an entire world out there for them, but nobody is ever going to offer it to them!"

Abella winced. Bigfoot's voice was now loud enough that it hurt her ears. Down below, she saw Velvet open the door of the cabin and look around.

"Everything okay? Is Uncle Foot up there with you?" she asked.

"Shit, fuck..." Bigfoot laid flat on his back and slid further down the roof. His left arm snagged on a shingle, causing one arm to hang comically above his body.

Abella looked down at Velvet. "How is Mike feeling?" she asked.

"Still the same. Yuki thinks he's turned a corner, but..." Velvet shrugged, seemingly unaware that Abella had changed the subject. "I wish I knew if he was going to be okay."

"And Dana?"

"Still have her locked in the closet. We think we have a way to fix her, but we need Mike to wake up first."

"I see." Abella turned her eyes back to the forest. "Then I shall continue to keep watch."

"Sounds good." Velvet turned to go inside, then paused in the door. "Don't let him drink that whole twelve pack. It gives him the farts and he can't sleep outside tonight." She went inside and closed the door.

"Dammit, fuzzy girl." Bigfoot rubbed at his eyes. "Knows me too well."

"You don't seem like the type to get weepy after just a few beers," Abella pointed out.

He chuckled, then sat up. "I have a stash out in the woods. I may have hit it a little hard this morning before coming up here. Probably should quit. I'm struggling with this whole thing, just so you know. Not just Leeds. The girls. I know that at least one of them is leaving here, I can feel it in my bones."

Abella's lips pursed together. She didn't really want to discuss the Arachne coming home with them. "Why does it upset you so if they leave?"

"It goes back to being lonely. In the last few decades, I've been happier than I can remember. I had a best friend, two of them, in fact. Ana and I were pretty close, but nowhere near as close as I was with Darren. Thought of him like a brother. Gah,!I see so much of him in my little fluffy girl that it hurts." He placed a hand against his chest and winced. "What we had out here now decays like a fallen tree. I can still see the shape of it everywhere I look, but it's fading into the forest and will eventually be gone. Majesty can be found even in the end of things, but then Leeds shows up and spoils what's left of it, that rotten bastard! Puts my girl in danger, pisses all over my memories here!"

When Bigfoot went to grab another beer, Abella crossed the roof and slapped it out of his hand. Using her tail, she knocked the rest of the twelve-pack off the roof.

"I think you've had enough," she said.

"Has anyone ever told you that you shouldn't piss off Bigfoot?" he asked, his voice suddenly dangerous.

"Your fur looks tough. Is it fire-proof?" She bared her teeth at him, then wrinkled her nose. "You stink."

"Yeah, I suppose I do." He sighed. "I guess you're right. I should probably go soak in the river, sober up a bit. It won't do us any good if I spend all day getting drunk. You all need me. My girls need me. I have better things to do than feel sorry for myself."

Abella had said none of these things but nodded her head in agreement.

"You're a good listener." He slid toward the edge of the roof and then turned to look at her. "Thanks for--"

Suddenly off balance, he tipped over the edge and landed hard on the ground below. A couple seconds after landing, he let out a long fart that reached Abella's nostrils, making her flinch in disgust. Her eyes twitched as she held her breath and leaned over the edge to check on him.

"You okay?" she asked.

Down below, Bigfoot was sprawled on the hard ground, his brown eyes focused on the sky. With one hand, he toyed with the hair on his chin, wrapping it around his finger into a tight curl.

"Yeah. I've had worse." With a groan, he stood and walked toward the nearest tree. "Thanks again," he told her, then stepped behind it and vanished.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she took her post on the edge of the barn once more. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. She would do her best to soak it all in, because even though Bigfoot thought they were safe for now, she had a sneaking suspicion that the worst was yet to come.

As the sun climbed higher, she decided to go do some reconnaissance. She jumped from the roof of the barn hard enough that the roof creaked in dismay. The cabin became a tiny dot below her as she ascended in a spiral. She could see where her heartfire had scorched thick lines through the forest. Bigfoot had dug a mass grave for the Nirumbi about a quarter of a mile from the cabin. It was meant to be a temporary measure, but Abella worried that they would start to rot once the sun came up.

She thought back to when she had lost her brother to the Arachne. It had been during one of the outbreaks of the plague. The sight of bodies on the street had become an everyday occurrence, and nobody had wanted to get too close to them for fear of catching the plague and joining the ranks of the dead. The difference between a plague-riddled corpse and one drained of its fluids wasn't readily visible, and the Arachne had just been tossing their finished meals into the gutters where they were eventually found and collected.

They had preyed on the poor. If a starving family of five went missing overnight, nobody thought twice about it. All of these details had come to light once the clan started their investigation, but there was little to be done.

Abella stayed higher than normal, half expecting to be snagged out of the sky by those shadowy tendrils. If she was going to get yanked down again, she wanted plenty of room to try and maneuver a safe landing. Her wing ached something fierce, and she had no doubt that she might shatter it.

Her patrol revealed very little. The Nirumbi's tracks disappeared into rocky formations that likely led to tunnels. There were other tracks she didn't recognize, but none of them were remotely close to the cabin. Were there other creatures that weren't willing to participate in the fight?

Of Leeds, there was no trace. She wondered if he hid underground with the Nirumbi, or if he used his magic to hide in plain sight. Each shadow was a potential threat, and it made her jumpy.

She made it to the edge of the barrier and was disgruntled to discover that it was still in place. It wasn't worth investigating further, she would leave that to Yuki. On her way back to the cabin, the sun was already beginning its descent. Would the Nirumbi return with nightfall? Or had they bought themselves some time?

She landed next to the barn instead of on it, then folded her wings around her body and walked toward the cabin. It sounded like Bigfoot was inside, she could hear him talking to Quetzalli. There was a constant rattling sound, which she guessed was Dana.

She was almost at the door when she heard a different sound coming from the barn. It was the sound of someone crying.

Curious, she walked over to the barn, her tail dragging behind her in the snow. The heat of the day had thinned the snow out, and the bloody spots in the yard were now a pale pink as a result. When she walked inside the barn, she saw Velvet standing over by her father's jeep, her face in her hands.

She hesitated. Did she really feel like playing amateur counselor with Velvet? At best, they were temporary allies, and she knew that she wouldn't feel like sharing her own problems with the Arachne.

"Abella?" Velvet turned around, her cheeks stained with tears. "I heard you coming. You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

"Hmm." That wasn't the reaction she had expected!

"I need your help." Velvet wiped her tears away, then turned back to the car. "Something happened while you were gone."

"Mike?" A feeling of dread settled in her gut.

"No, not that. But...almost as bad." Her shoulders tightened up, and Abella realized that Velvet was holding her sword. "I need your help with something."

Wary, Abella moved toward the car but kept herself against the walls of the barn. The place was even more trashed than before, and dark streaks ran up the walls where fires had almost caught. "With what?" she asked.

"You hate my kind. That's okay, I get it. It's a good thing." Velvet turned to face the gargoyle and let out a heavy sigh. "I need you to do something for me that I can't do myself."

Abella frowned, but she was close enough now to see that something was sitting in the passenger seat of the car. She moved a bit closer and felt her entire body go numb when she realized what it was.

It was a clutch of eggs. Each one was like a giant, oblong pearl, and they were bundled together in a silken sack of webs.

"When?" Abella growled, her tail whipping behind her. With the others around, she couldn't believe that the Arachne had found a way to get him alone. And yet she now stared at the result in Velvet's hands.

"It doesn't matter." Velvet's features threatened to fracture, her eyes filled with anguish. "I need you to help me destroy them!"

Abella didn't have words for this, but her eyes flicked to the blade in Velvet's hand.

"Oh, sorry." Velvet put the sword away in her pocket. "I...this...about an hour ago, I felt them coming. So I snuck out here to lay them. Nobody else knows."

"They are dangerous!" Abella whispered angrily. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Please understand. It was the urge to mate, it was overwhelming, but it's more than that." Velvet picked up one of the eggs. It was roughly the size of an eggplant. "When I'm around Mike, I can't help myself. It's like the world is ice-cold, and he's a warm blanket I can bury myself under. I feel complete when I'm around him, it was all I could do just to wander off and do this! Danger speeds up the quickening process, it's a survival mechanism!"

She held the egg out toward Abella, who took a step away from it. "When I hold them, I can see their strengths. It's like staring into the night sky, each one of them a star sparkling with possibilities. They are absolutely flawless, probably the most dangerous Arachne to walk the world in over a century."

"And you want me to destroy them? Why? If you know they are so dangerous, why don't you do it?"

Velvet's lower lip trembled. Her voice broke between words, as if there wasn't enough air to speak. "Because I can see what they look like," she whispered, then picked up one of the eggs. "This one has my father's eyes and Mike's nose. And this one over here has Mike's hair and my father's grin. I've only ever loved two humans in my entire life, and when I think about destroying them, I..." She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, a single bead of it running down her chin before her tongue licked it away. Her hands went to the dog tags around her neck and she squeezed them. "My father's legacy deserves better than this, but I can't help but feel like I'm losing him all over again. It's almost like a cruel prank played on me by Mother Nature."

"I think I understand." Abella moved closer, still wary of a trap. "I didn't think this would be a problem for an Arachne. Your kind has always seemed so...methodical."

"It shouldn't be, but..." Velvet shook her head. "I have too much of my father's humanity in me. It's what makes me so flawed."

Abella thought about this for a moment. The barn was silent, save for the sound of the wind blowing through the slats, giving her plenty of time to think. She approached the jeep and moved a hand toward the eggs, curious how Velvet would react.

For a moment, it looked like the Arachne would stop her, but Velvet held firm, her eyes welling up. Abella picked up an egg and was surprised at how warm it was. The future of the Arachne was in her hands, and the only reason Velvet couldn't do it herself was because she wasn't the monster that her kind needed her to be.

"Maybe...I think that maybe you've got it wrong," Abella told her. "Your father's humanity is precious. It is a gift that allows you to relate to the world in a whole different way. Instead of seeing it as a flaw, you should think of it as the thing that makes you...special."

Velvet opened her eyes and looked at Abella, those dark orbs of her shimmering.

"Do you want to be here when it happens?" Abella asks.

Velvet whimpered. "Do I have to be?" she whispered.

"No." Abella picked up all the eggs. "Are these all of them?"

Velvet nodded.

"You can trust me. Go wait outside." Once the words crossed Abella's lips, Velvet bolted out of the barn. Not wanting to prolong the process, Abella set the eggs on the ground and lifted her foot.

Yet, she hesitated. For just a moment, she could see them. She could never have children with Mike herself, nor did she want to. Yet the idea that she was destroying something he created pained her. It also made her appreciate Velvet's sacrifice far more.

Instead of slamming her foot down, she lowered it gently. The eggs were tough, but they cracked beneath her weight. The moment the yolks ran into the dirt, she heard Velvet let out a mournful wail outside of the barn. The musty smell of the barn was briefly overpowered by the odor of ozone, but with another sniff it was gone.

Determined to complete the job, she crushed them all until the shells were tiny fragments. As she ground them up beneath her feet, she couldn't help but think about how the Arachne had dragged her brother to the top of that church and repeatedly slammed him into the ground. All she had seen was the ruthlessness in their eyes, their absolute lack of humanity.

Would these have been any different? Outside the barn, Velvet's wails diminished into hiccuping sobs. It was the sound of a mother's grief. Abella paused for a moment, the sound rocking her. It wasn't an emotion she had ever expected to see in an Arachne, and she couldn't help but feel sadness at the mess beneath her feet. Determined to see the deed through, she used her talons to dig a hole and then pushed the remains of the eggs inside. The burial was easy, and she used her tail to smooth out the ground.

When she walked outside, she found Velvet huddled against the wall of the barn. The Arachne was crying, her legs splayed on the ground. Abella helped her stand and then wrapped her arms around Velvet in a tight embrace and became a rock for her to lean on.

🏠🏠🏠

The fridge in Murray's kitchen rattled briefly before letting out a sigh and going silent. Eulalie threw a dirty glance at it, hoping that it wouldn't decide to break down. Murray's interior aesthetic trended toward what the early eighties aspired to, and she was quite convinced that the fridge was no different.

She turned her attention back to the computer and was about to change cameras when she felt the thread she had attached to their intruder shift. It was the tiniest of movements, but already she was across the room and climbing the stairs.

Sofia, who had been asleep on the couch, leapt to her feet and followed. She squinted against the bright light of morning and stumbled on one of the steps. The floor creaked beneath Sofia, and Eulalie frowned at the noise.

"Sorry," Sofia muttered. "Didn't sleep well. Felt like I had the flu or something for a bit."

"As long as you're okay now."

"I am." Sofia continued up, and Eulalie followed. They opened the door to Murray's room and walked inside. The intruder was holding perfectly still, and she wasn't even entirely certain that he was breathing.

"Enough of that." Sofia pushed past Eulalie and extended her sword. Using the flat of her blade, she slapped it against the stranger's belly. The sound was loud, and his whole body jerked. A thin welt appeared across his sagging gut.

"Why did you do that?" asked Eulalie.

"He was attempting astral projection." She swatted his belly again. "Maybe remote viewing, or trying to contact someone, I don't know. But if he keeps it up, I'm going to start using the edge," she declared.

"Ow, enough, please." He turned his head back and forth. Eulalie figured he was trying to find a gap in the pillowcase to look through, but she had already checked. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why are you breaking into places with a magic wand?" Sofia dragged the tip of her sword along his foot, then up his calf. "Don't give me that innocent bullshit. Let's skip ahead to the part where you tell me something useful."

"I...uh..." he shifted. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"So go." Sofia now ran the blade up his thigh. "Nobody is stopping you."

The man sighed. "If you insist."

"Wait." Eulalie placed her hand on the man's belly and gave Sofia a dirty look. She really didn't want to deal with the mess, and would be able to smell it throughout the house. "Perhaps we can come to an agreement."

"I'm listening." His voice was gravelly now.

"Why don't we start with just a few basic questions. Nothing invasive, just some basic manners. For instance, what is your name?"

He tilted his head in her direction. "Names are a powerful thing," he told them. "How do I know you aren't a witch who--"

WHAP! The flat of the blade smacked him on the bottom of his foot. Sofia grinned.

"Ow, fuck!" He jerked in his bonds. "You can call me Cyrus!"

"Okay, Cyrus. Nice to meet you." Eulalie moved her hands up to his neck. She could see the beating of his heart through his carotid artery. As she watched his pulse, she couldn't help but think she had heard that name before. "Why did you break into our house?"

"It isn't your house," Cyrus declared. "But I answered your question, so you owe me one."

Sofia slapped him again, but this time, he didn't utter a sound.

"Hmm. Looks like a protective aura is around him now." Sofia put her hand an inch above his skin. "Here, you can feel it. It's kind of like an electrical field."

Eulalie obeyed. Her fingertips felt like they were full of pins and needles.

"What happened to Murray?" Cyrus turned his head back and forth, as if trying to figure out where they were standing. "Did you hurt him?"

"Owner of this house? We're not sure." Eulalie looked at Sofia. There were so many lines to pluck at right now, but she didn't know where to proceed.

"Not sure isn't a great answer," Cyrus grumbled.

"Why does it matter?" Sofia asked.

"Because I want to know what kind of people I'm dealing with," he answered.

"We didn't hurt him. Is he a friend of yours?" Sofia asked, the tip of the blade now teasing his nipple. Her lips had parted slightly, and Eulalie wondered if she was getting off on this.

Cyrus paused, then shook his head. "I know everyone who lives on this street."

"Why?" Eulalie asked.

"Nope. My turn." He flinched when Sofia poked his nipple. "Why are you watching the Radley house?"

Eulalie and Sofia looked at each other.

"What makes you think we're--"

"Please, I have to pee. I'm an old man who got knocked out last night." He let out a disgruntled sigh. "I've been watching your drone. Not sure how you got the pet rats to do patrols, but I can also tell that something happened over at the house."

"What makes you such an expert?" Sofia asked. "On the house, I mean."

Cyrus groaned. "Please, I really have to pee."

Eulalie pursed her lips together, and then looked at Sofia.

"I can take him," Sofia said. "If he tries anything, I'll just kill him."

Eulalie wasn't certain how serious Sofia was, but nodded. They untied him and Sofia marched him into the bathroom and pointed him toward the toilet. Once he was done, he was marched back to the bed and then held down while Eulalie retied her webs.